ZOOLOGIA 28 (5): 593–602, October, 2011 doi: 10.1590/S1984-46702011000500007 Immature stages and natural history of the Andean butterfly Altinote ozomene (Nymphalidae: Heliconiinae: Acraeini) Patricia Duque Velez1, 3; Hugo Hernando Vargas Montoya2 & Marta Wolff2 1 Museo Entomológico Piedras Blancas, Comfenalco Antioquia. Medellín-Colombia. E-mail: [email protected] 2 Grupo de Entomología Universidad de Antioquia GEUA, Universidad de Antioquia. Calle 67, no. 53-108, Medellín-Colombia, AA 1226. E-mail: [email protected] 3 Corresponding Author. ABSTRACT. The immature stages (eggs, larvae and pupae), oviposition and larval behavior of Altinote ozomene (Godart, 1819) are described here for the first time. Larvae were reared from egg clutches collected from the host plants Erato vulcanica (Klatt) H.Rob and Munnozia senecionidis Benth (Asteraceae). Eggs were laid in groups on the undersides of leaves. The number of instars varied from five to eight within the same egg clutch, and the corresponding development time from larva to adult varied from 91 to 115 days. Most (72%) larvae pupated during the sixth instar. The first four instars fed only on the leaf cuticle, whereas later instars consumed the whole leaf. Larvae were gregarious during all instars but rested together only during the day in later instars, either hidden inside dry leaves, on the stem at the base of the host plants, or in the leaf litter. Larvae showed similar morphology and behavior to those previously described for species of Actinote Hübner, 1819 from southeastern Brazil and the Andes. KEY WORDS. Host plant; immature behavior; Lepidoptera; life cycle; neotropical. The nymphalid Acraeini (Lepidoptera) comprises between MATERIAL AND METHODS one and seven genera, depending on the taxonomy adopted, and occurs both in the Neotropics and the Old World, with the The study was conducted between January 2006 and greatest diversity in Africa (SILVA-BRANDÃO et al. 2008). Three December 2009 in the Parque Ecológico Piedras Blancas nature genera are found in the Neotropics: Actinote Hübner, 1819, reserve in the northeastern region of Medellín, Colombia Abananote Potts, 1943 and Altinote Potts, 1943 (LAMAS 2004). (6°17’40.68”N, 75°30’4.32”W). The altitude at this site is 2350 According to the most recent phylogeny of Acraeini, which m, and the average temperature is 15°C. The area consists pri- was proposed by SILVA-BRANDÃO et al. (2008), Altinote and marily of large pine plantations interspersed with small frag- Abananote are embedded within Actinote. Several species, how- ments of native forest dominated by Quercus humboldtii Bonpl ever, were not included in that study, including Altinote (Fagaceae). Observations of the behavior of the immature stages ozomene(Godart, 1819). Given the current disarray in the sys- were conducted in the field. Host plants were identified, col- tematics of Acraeinae at the generic level, knowledge of the lected and deposited in the Herbarium of the Universidad de morphology and biology of the immature stages of the species Antioquia (HUA). in this subfamily could be of particular value in developing a Eggs were collected in the field and taken to the labora- stable classification (HARVEY 1991, PENZ 1999, PENZ & PEGGIE 2003, tory where they were reared in plastic containers with host FREITAS & BROWN 2004, SILVA-BRANDÃO et al. 2008). plant leaves. To determine the time spent in the embryonic Most of the existing descriptions of the immature stages phase (from oviposition to eclosion of the eggs), five egg clus- of Neotropical Acraeini involve members of Actinote (PALUCH et ters were observed daily after oviposition. To determine the al. 1999, 2001, FREITAS et al. 2009a, b, 2010). Currently, no de- time spent in each larval instar, 4680 eggs from 39 egg clusters tailed descriptions exist for species of Altinote, except for brief collected in the field were monitored daily from the hatching notes on Altinote ozomene nox (H.W. Bates, 1864) (sensu LAMAS of larvae to the emergence of adults. 2004, HARVEY 1983, DEVRIES 1987). The present paper thus pro- The samples of first instar larvae were placed in acetic vides the most complete description to date of the biology and acid for 48 hours, and the samples of other instars were fixed morphology of the immature stages of an Altinote species, fo- in Kahle solution (BORROR & DELONG 1971) and then transferred cusing on Al. ozomene. to 80% ethyl alcohol. Adults were mounted on entomological © 2011 Sociedade Brasileira de Zoologia | www.sbzoologia.org.br | All rights reserved. 594 P. D. Velez et al. pins and deposited in the Museo Entomológico de Piedras Table I. Developmental timeline of Altinote ozomene. Blancas (MEPB) and in the Laboratorio de Colecciones Duration in Range No. of No. of Stage Entomológicas, Universidad de Antioquia (CEUA). In the fol- days (± s.d.) (days) Individuals clutches lowing descriptions, T1-T3 refer to thorax segments and A1- Egg 21.5 ± 0.6 21-22 5 A10 to abdominal segments. Chaetotaxy of the first instar is L1 10.4 ± 1.8 7-14 4680 39 described using the terminology of STEHR (1987). Body length L2 8.7 ± 1.6 6-16 4680 39 was measured at each stage using a millimeter rule under a Ia. Cycles L3 8.0 ± 1.3 4-18 3900 39 stereomicroscope. with five instars L4 8.8 ± 1.4 7-12 3500 35 RESULTS L5 14.2 ± 3.0 3-23 52 6 Pupa 19.2 ± 1.6 17-28 51 4 Host plants and oviposition Egg -adult 90.8 ± 3.7 88.5-104.5 51 4 Eggs of Al. ozomene were collected from leaves of the Egg 21.5 ± 0.6 21-22 5 Asteraceae plants Erato vulcanica (Klatt) H. Rob (Fig. 1) and L1 10.4 ± 1.8 7-14 4680 39 Munnozia senecionidis Benth (Fig. 2; VELEZ et al. 2008). The former L2 8.7 ± 1.6 6-16 4680 39 is a shrub, 4 m in height, with a 5-cm diameter stem; the latter L3 8.0 ± 1.3 4-18 3900 39 has a prostrate habit of growth. Both species are abundant in Ib. Cycles the study area, especially in open areas, scrub and forest edges with six L4 8.8 ± 1.4 7-12 3500 35 instars and along stream margins, paths and tracks (TORO 2000). L5 9.70 ± 1.5 6-14 1145 30 Eggs were laid in clusters on the undersides of leaves. Fe- L6 13.7 ± 3.0 3-27 349 17 males typically alighted on the underside of the leaf around noon Pupa 16.1 ± 2.6 11-27 349 17 and remained there for over 2.5 hours, laying eggs (Fig. 3). Eggs Egg-adult 96.6 ± 6.5 83-103 349 17 and/or larvae were often found concentrated on plants within Egg 21.5 ± 0.6 21-22 5 close proximity. Eggs were sometimes laid on plants where eggs or larvae were already present (up to two egg clutches were found L1 10.4 ± 1.8 7-14 4680 39 on the same plant), generally on different leaves on large plants, L2 8.7 ± 1.6 6-16 4680 39 and rarely on the same leaf. The number of eggs in each clutch L3 8.0 ± 1.3 4-18 3900 39 varied from 100 to 380 (n = 39 clutches). Several clutches in- Ic. Cycles L4 8.8 ± 1.4 7-12 3500 35 cluded four or five infertile eggs (Fig. 6). Larvae from clutches with seven instars L5 9.7 ± 1.5 6-14 1145 30 that contained fewer than 30 viable eggs (either because ovipo- L6 10.3 ± 1.5 8-14 82 15 sition was interrupted or because most of the eggs died from L7 12.8 ± 5.1 3-33 82 15 fungal attack) died within the first three instars. Pupa 19.3 ± 3.3 15-30 82 15 Development cycle Egg-adult 109.8 ± 6.0 96-119 82 15 Eggs from a single clutch hatched within 24 hours of one another. In 92% (36) of the clutches, the number of in- Egg 21.5 ± 0.6 21-22 5 stars varied within the same clutch from five to eight (Tab. I). L1 10.4 ± 1.8 7-14 4680 39 In each of the other three clutches, all larvae showed the same L2 8.7 ± 1.6 6-16 4680 39 number of instars: five in one clutch and six in the other two L3 8.0 ± 1.3 4-18 3900 39 clutches. Most of the larvae that reached adulthood (72%, n = L4 8.8 ± 1.4 7-12 3500 35 Id. Cycles 349) pupated during the sixth instar, and 17% pupated during with eight L5 9.7 ± 1.5 6-14 1145 30 the seventh instar (Tab. I). instars L6 10.3 ± 1.5 8-14 82 15 The total developmental time was directly related to the L7 7.9 ± 1.2 7-9 9 4 number of molts: the time from egg to adult was 91, 97, 110 and 115 days for larvae that passed through five to eight instars, L8 13.5 ± 6.1 2-14 4 3 respectively (Tab. I). This is related to the fact that all instars are Pupa 16.3 ± 6.4 9-21 4 3 of similar duration (8-10 days), except for the final instar (whether Egg-adult 115.1 4 3 it is the fifth or the eighth), which typically lasts 13-14 days (Tab. I). However, a few larvae that passed through more than five instars pupated after only two or three days in their last External morphology of the immature stages instar. No relationship was observed between either the number Eggs (Figs 4-5) of Al.